Nicholas Eberstadt will describe the current collapse in the global birth rate and what the implications are for business, housing, and warfare.

John Ellis is the former Dean of the Graduate School at The University of California at Santa Cruz. He is also the author of a new book entitled A Short History of Relations Between Peoples: How the World Began to Move Beyond Tribalism. John will explain why this subject is verboten in American university classrooms, graduate work, and history journals. I want to learn how British imperialism made the world a better place.

Vicky Collison will give us a firsthand account of what it was like to fight the fires in the Palisades. I first met Vicky immediately after graduating from college when we were in the Salomon Brothers Corporate Finance Training Program in 1987.

Our second speaker is Gerald Posner who will talk about the public policy failures for fire mitigation in LA, with particular concern about DEI. Gerald joined us several times previously on What Happens Next. He previously spoke about the JFK Assassination Part 1 and Part 2 as well as the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. He also joined us to discuss his new book on the opioid crisis.

Ed Glaeser is a Professor of Economics at Harvard and the author of Triumph of the City. I want to learn from Ed what the key issues are for rebuilding of the Pacific Palisades. How long will it take to for the victims of the fires to move in? What the implications are for permitting and zoning, and should the residents opt for a major redesign of the entire city by increasing density.

Scott Turow is the author of the newly released courtroom thriller Presumed Guilty and the best selling book Presumed Innocent that was made into a movie and recently into a TV series. I want to learn from Scott about why the jury is biased against the defendant, how race influences the legal strategy, what it costs these days to defend in a murder case, and why you should not take the stand in your own defense.

Darren Schwartz is the What Happens Next culture critic.

H. W. Brands is the author of the book America First: Roosevelt vs. Lindbergh in the Shadow of War. Trump has indicated that his foreign policy will place America’s interests first following a long tradition in this country. We need to reexamine the debate prior to America’s entry into World War 2 and hear Lindbergh’s arguments about why we should stay out of wars in Europe.

Jim Zelter is the co-President of Apollo. Jim will discuss the growing dominance of Private Credit lending and the disintermediation of banks. Current corporate capital expenditures require enormous sums of long-term capital to build computer chip factories, data centers, and energy projects. These long duration assets should not be funded by short-term depositors.

Michael Vickers was the Defense Department’s top civilian military intelligence officer under Obama. He is also the author of the book By All Means Available: Memoirs of a Life in Intelligence, Special Operations and Strategy.

Darren Schwartz is the What Happens Next Movie Critic. Darren and I will discuss all aspects of the blockbuster movie Wicked including, the decision to split the movie into two parts, whether the 2-hour 40-minute run time was appropriate, as well as the key casting decisions. We will also debate Wicked’s Oscar chances, compare it to other classic films, and generally cause mayhem. Let’s get started.

Craig Symonds is a Maritime History Professor at the US Naval Academy and the author of the book Nimitz at War.